


Lamb to Slaughter

by trillingstar



Series: Hardtime100 [10]
Category: Oz (TV)
Genre: Books, Character Study, Community: hardtime100, Drabble and a Half, Episode Tag, Gen, Memories, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-06-05
Updated: 2009-06-05
Packaged: 2018-04-04 16:42:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4145061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trillingstar/pseuds/trillingstar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Father Mukada, after the riot.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	Lamb to Slaughter

**Author's Note:**

> Challenge #151: Token of My Affection; Mukada.  
> Word count: 173. Early S2.  
> 

  
After the riot, it's the quiet noises that scare him: a half-knock, a shuffling step outside his door or the soft murmur of voices in the hall. Anyone he sees could be a heartbeat away from knocking him unconscious; he dreams of bleeding out on the floor.

Between appointments, he opens the side drawer and stares at the tiny volume. As hours pass, he lifts the tissue paper from its sides, and when the last beast - _man_ \- is gone, he pulls the book out and places it gently on the desk.

Reverently, he strokes the cover with the back of one finger. The book is centuries old, the kidskin cover dyed maroon, cracking along the spine, and stretched tight for protection. The vellum smells like history. The hand-printed Latin is comforting.

He's in the library in Rome, watching dust motes float in a ray of sunshine that slants onto his table through the stained glass window. He smiles freely, he relaxes, he remembers what it is like to be unafraid.  


**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted [on LJ](http://hardtime100.livejournal.com/279998.html).  
> 


End file.
